S.F. Cops Face Investigation in Kidnap

Published 8:00 pm, Thursday, July 3, 2003

Police officers did not stop a vehicle that matched a suspect's in a kidnap report upon learning the vehicle belonged to a department lieutenant, and the acting chief said he has ordered an investigation.

"This thing fell through the cracks," Chief Alex Fagan said.

The woman said she had been forced into a car while walking home early Tuesday, and she banged on its windows to draw attention, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing police documents.

She was able to get out of the car, and told police the vehicle was a black SUV driven by a man in his 30s.

Minutes later, police spotted a Cadillac Escalade matching the description and officers ran a check on the license plates. The vehicle was registered to a police lieutenant, police said.

"My understanding is that there was no stop, there was no arrest, there was no detention," Fagan said.

The woman told officers that she didn't think she could identify the driver and said she did not want to try.

No one has been suspended and the probe will likely end next week, Fagan said.

"I don't think the focus is on the officers. Somewhere along the chain of command the notification wasn't made," he said in a televised interview. "There is no criminal action being taken."

The lieutenant is a 23-year department veteran. The Chronicle reported that police commission records show he was suspended in the early 1980s for 60 days for soliciting an act of prostitution from an undercover Oakland police officer.

Fagan's 24-year-old son was dismissed from the police force in June after failing to make probation. Alex Fagan Jr. was charged with assault for allegedly joining a brawl over a bag of steak fajitas Nov. 20 outside a restaurant. He was suspended following his Feb. 27 indictment.

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Fagan Sr. and Sanders were briefly charged with trying to conceal the alleged assault, but the charges were dropped.